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Future Students

Program Objectives

In alignment with the department's strategic vision, HCDE MS program graduates will be leaders who transform a wide range of domains using human-centered design and engineering theory and practices. 

Graduates of the HCDE Master's program will specifically:

  • Compare and think critically about the strengths, weaknesses, and appropriateness of different methodologies and theories from diverse fields (e.g., ethics, sociology, history, philosophy, art, and psychology).
     
  • Evaluate human needs and values in a variety of sociotechnical design contexts (e.g., industry, non-profits, government) of varying scale (e.g., groups, communities, organizations, infrastructures). 
     
  • Effectively conceptualize, communicate, and critique design ideas about products, processes, and systems through well-crafted oral, written, material, and visual forms (e.g., writing, prototyping, visualization, sketching, software development, or film making etc.).
     
  • Create and execute iterative human-centered processes to design, engineer, and evaluate products, processes, and systems to achieve intended outcomes.
     
  • Lead, guide, or engage strategically with stakeholder groups, teams and organizations who have different backgrounds, priorities and approaches including multidisciplinary design and development teams, community interest groups, organizations, etc.
     
  • Promote the value of human-centered design in industry, non-profits, government, or academic contexts.
     
  • Demonstrate the capacity and willingness to constantly ask questions about potential consequences, to be self-critical of work, and identify potential responses/changes to critique.